For example, an in-vehicle navigation apparatus includes a touch panel on a screen of a display device on which, for example, a map is displayed, in which scrolling of the map, the change of a scale and the like are controlled by performing touch operations on the touch panel by a user's finger. In this case, operations executed by the user include multiple kinds of emotional (sensory) gesture operations such as a flick operation, pinch-in/out operations, a drag operation and a double-tap operation. The touch panel operation device includes a gesture microcomputer which detects an operation event inputted to the touch panel, and a display controller performs display control corresponding to the detected operation event in accordance with the notification from the gesture microcomputer.
In the above case, a technique of confirming the gesture operations on the touch panel such as tapping, dragging and double tapping by determining a change in the amount of sensation and the existence of a movement of an article on the touch panel is disclosed in, for example, PTL 1. According to the technique, misjudgment due to noise judgment is restricted and a fault that it is difficult to recognize the operation on the touch panel due to an unclear action in the operation is improved, thereby improving convenience for use.